78 



ALABAMA ALAU AN N!. 



or fifteen feel aho\ c ii. succeeds an cxtcn-ivc body 

 of level land, of a hiack, ricli .soil, with a growth of 

 hickory, bluck oak, post ouk, poplar, dogwood, \c. 

 After tins come the prairies, which art- wide spread- 

 ing plains, or gently-wa\ ing land, without timber, 

 clothed with grass, herliage, and flowers, exhibiting 

 in the month of May, the most enchaining scenery. 

 Cotton is tlic staple jiriKluction, anil is raised in great 

 quantities. ( 'tlier priMluctions are maize, rice, wheat, 

 rye. oats, &c. Iron ore is found in several places, 

 and coal abounds on the Black-Warrior and ( 'ahaw- 

 li.i. The climate in the southern part of the bottom- 

 land bordering on the rivers, anil of the country 

 bordering on the Muscle shoals, is unhealthy. In 

 tin- elevated country, the climate is very fine; the 

 winters are mild, and the summers pleasant, being 

 tempered by breezes from the gulf of Mexico. The 

 population of i hi- sale, from the time when the first 

 settlement was commenced, has increased with re- 

 markable rapidity. Occupying the valley of the 

 Mobile and its tributary streams, the Alabama and 

 Tombeckbee, its position, in an agricultural and 

 commercial point of view, is highly advantageous ; 

 and from the fertility of its soil, and the value of its 

 productions, it may be expected to become an impor- 

 tant member of the Union. The Cherokee Indians 

 occupy the N. E. corner of the state, the Creeks the 

 < astern part, and the Chickasaws and Choctavvs some 

 itortions of the western. Alabama originally be- 

 longed to the state of Georgia ; in 1800, the country 

 ir.ciuding the present states of Mississippi and Ala- 

 bama was formed into a territory ; the part of Florida 

 let ween Pearl and Perdido rivers, being taken pos- 

 session of by the United States in 1812, and annexed 

 to this territory, emigration into it immediately com- 

 menced. During the years 1813 and 1814, it was 

 liarassed-liy the attacks of the savages, who were re- 

 duced to submission by general Jackson. In 1817, 

 the western portion of the territory became the state 

 of Mississippi, and the eastern the territory of Ala- 

 bama, which by an act of congress, March, 1819, 

 was admitted into the Union as an independent state. 

 By its constitution, adopted July, 1819, the legisla- 

 tive power is vested in two houses, chosen by universal 

 suffrage. Many of the settlers in this state are rich 

 planters. Some of the lands were sold for 50 dollars 

 an acre in a state of nature. The fertility of the 

 soil, the general salubrity and mildness of the climate, 

 the great facilities for internal navigation and foreign 

 commerce, sufficiently account for the rapid increase 

 of its population. 



ALABAMA ; a river which gives its name to the 

 state so called ; (see the preceding article). It is 

 formed by the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, 

 and, flowing S. S. W., unites with the Tombeckbee, 

 forty-five miles above Mobile bay, to form the river 

 Mobile. From the junction to Clairborne, sixty 

 miles, it is navigable at all seasons for vessels draw- 

 ing six feet. From Clairborne to the mouth of the 

 Cahawba, about 150 miles, the river lias four or five 

 feet of water. From the mouth of the Cahawba to 

 the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa, the navi- 

 gation generally continues good, the river affording 

 three feet of water in the sliallowest places. The 

 river is subject to great variation by rising and fall- 

 ing. 



ALABAMA ; a tribe of Indians so called, which 

 formerly inhabited the eastern side of the Mobile 

 river. 



ALABASTER (in Greek, aXa/Wrfo,- ; in Latin, ala- 

 baster), in mineralogy ; (see Gypsum.) In sculpture ; 

 the common name, among ancient and modern artists, 

 for gypsum and the calc-sinter of modern mineralogy. 

 A. has a- greater or less degree of transparency, ac- 

 cording to its goodness; has a granular texture, is 



softer tin, n marble, docs not, take so fine a polish, an.i 

 is usually of a [lire white colour. In Europe, it is 

 found near Coblciitz in Germany ; in the neighbour- 

 hood of Cluny, in France; in Italy, near Rome. 

 Some of the A. near this city i-, particularly cele- 

 brated for its whiteness and the si/,e of its blocks, 

 which are large enough for a statue of the si/.e ot 

 life. There are, also many quarries of the gfamiUy 

 gypsum, which is used I'm- the manufacture of plaster 

 ot Paris, in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. To 

 prepare the plaster, the gypsum is burned and 

 ground. Moulds and casts 1'iom statues and other 

 sculptures are formed from this valuable material, 

 and also a very strong cement for the use of tint 

 sculptor and mason, to form the close join; s of marble ; 

 plasterers also use it much, particularly for mouldings 

 and foliage. The ancients obtained large block- ot 

 A. from Thebes (where was a town from which it 

 received this name), and used it for statues and co- 

 lumns. The various museums contain many \.IMS 

 and similar articles of A., for which the Romans 

 often employed this material. They imported mneli 

 from Cyprus, Spain, and even Africa. They liked 

 particularly to put their lamps in vases of transparent 

 A., which gave an agreeable softness to the light. 

 In the museums, several figures of ancient sculpture 

 are preserved, the bodies of which are of A. and the 

 heads of some other substance. A box, vase, or 

 other vessel, to hold perfumes, formed of A. was 

 called by the ancients alabastrum ; Horace calls, them 

 onychites. The alabastrum is always among the at- 

 tributes of the Bathing I'enus. Oriental A. was 

 the most sought after for the purpose of making these 

 vessels. 



ALACRANES ; a range of hidden rocks, shoals, and 

 banks, in the gulf of Mexico, near the coast of 

 Yucatan. Lon. 90 W. ; lat. 22 36' N. 



ALADAN, ALADA, or ALADINK ISLAM >s ; a cluster 

 of small islands in the bay of Bengal, belonging to 

 wliat is sometimes called the Mergui A rein p 

 near the coast of Siain. They run from U" 5' to 

 9 40", N. lat., and are in 97" 5^, E. Ion. 



ALAMANM, Luigi ; a famous Italian poet, born at 

 Florence, in 1495, of one of the noblest and most 

 distinguished families of the republic. His father 

 was zealously devoted to the party of the Medici, 

 and he himself stood in high favour with the cardinal 

 Giulio, who governed in the name of pope Leo X. ; 

 but, conceiving himself to have Ix-en injured, he 

 joined a conspiracy formed against the life of the 

 cardinal. The plan was discovered ; A. fled to 

 Venice, and, when the cardinal ascended the papal 

 chair, under the name of Clement VII., he took re- 

 fuge in Fiance. . But the misfortunes which befell 

 this pope giving Florence an opportunity to become 

 free, in 1527 A. returned thither. His country sent 

 him on an embassy to Genoa. Here he became the 

 friend of Andrew Doria, with whose fleet he went to 

 Spain. Charles V. soon after sailed in the same 

 fleet from Spain to Italy, to arrange the affairs of 

 Florence, and subject it to the Medici. After this 

 new revolution, A., proscribed by the duke Alessan- 

 dro, went to France, where the favours of Francis I. 

 retained him. Here he composed the greater part 

 of his works. The king esteemed him so highly, 

 that, after the peace of Crespy, in 1544, he sent him 

 as ambassador to the emperor Charles V. A. dis- 

 charged his office with great skill. He was held in 

 like estimation by Henry II., who also employed 

 him in several negotiations. He followed the court, 

 and was with it at Amboise, when he was attacked 

 with the dysentery, which terminated his life. His 

 principal works are a collection of poems, eclogues, 

 psalms, satires, elegies, fables, &c., part in blank 

 verse, the invention of which is contested with hiui 



